Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Passion Post: Music

Music was not on my original list of "passions" to blog about--but with the topic raised in my recent tag post, where I said I passionately *hate* Rush, I thought I'd share some music I passionately love.

Duran Duran. Yes, I was one of those screaming, swooning young teen girls in the early Eighties. I still am, I must say. I got to go to my very first Duran Duran concert at the age of 34. I screamed. I swooned. I love all their older stuff, and much of their newer music. My favorite video by Duran Duran has ever been and ever will be: The Wild Boys.



Scream...swoon....


Sinead O'Connor. Yes, it's limited to her first two albums. But I adored, and still adore, her voice. And was ridiculously impressed by how gorgeous she was bald. I had my hair buzzed very short back in those days, but not bald! :P Her music is passionate and deep. And if anyone doubts her vocal ability, watch this:



These days so many female pop stars rely on skimpy costumes and punchy dance beats and whatever. Sinead clung fiercely to her individuality and relied on pure talent. I will say there are some with pipes like her today, but they are too few and far between for me.

The Offspring. (I seem to be doing this chronologically. I didn't intend to, but we'll go with it.) I often refer to myself as an ex-punk rocker. It's because I spent a lot of time listening to bands like The Ramones and The Misfits. I still throw The Ramones in now and then, but I abandoned The Misfits because of Danzig's self-proclamation of his satan-worshiping, which I simply can't get past. But over the years, my love for The Offspring has grown. That is partly because so has their music. My current favorite of theirs:



What do I say? The song simply rocks.

More currently, I have found few artists to love passionately. Pop today is far too dance/hip-hop/whatever for me. I am not into emo or screamo. Or country. And I don't have time to search through indie artists as much as I'd like. I do passionately love a few of Adele's songs, and the video for Rolling in the Deep is masterful. And my daughter constantly listening to Selena Gomez has led me to an appreciation for her talent. Yes, odd combo those. Jeremy Camp is another favorite of mine, and just a few months ago I discovered Fireflight, but can't say I've developed a true passion for them yet.

But I've posted a few times about Logan Lind, and I can say I love his music passionately. My favorite song by him is one called Shimmer and he hasn't made a video of it yet. Logan, are you listening???? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.....

I'll leave you with the video of one song I listened to obsessively a few months ago. An indie band called Middle Class Rut with their song New Low:



And please, if based on anything you see in this post, if you have band/song suggestions for me leave them in the comments. I've love to check them out!

4 comments:

Caprice said...

Well, this is yet another area where we will be complete opposites. I have never HEARD of the majority of these musicians. My younger sister was into Duran Duran while I was still living at home, but she was into a lot of music and I never kept track of which album she was blaring from her room at which time. Therefore, I do not know AC/DC from Duran Duran, but I could tell you if my sister ever played it.

I was into music that no self-respecting high school or college student would admit to (Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka), therefore I developed the habit of headphones. Eventually I found some socially acceptable music (Beach Boys, Beatles, Petra) I could listen to in the car and wouldn't die if someone found the cassette.

I still am not much for music and am always telling my teens to "turn it down" and "shut it off". Was it Simon and Garfunkel who raved about "The Sound of Silence"? That's what I want. A little Simon and Garfunkel and a LOT of silence.

Kat Heckenbach said...

Well, Caprice, one of my fellow punker friends was into Patsy Cline, and I love Elvis and a lot of 60s folk music. I'm a huge Simon and Garfunkel fan, and yes, Sound of Silence is theirs.

I don't listen to music as much as I did as a teen, that's for sure. But that's partly a time issue, and I'm not someone who can listen to anything but silence when I write.

Alan O said...

Ooh, what fun! Love that you shared this, Kat. I like all your picks (though I confess that as a screaming teenage *boy* in the 80's, I wasn't ready for the Euro-sound of DD. I was more into the arena rock of REO, Survivor, etc)

You're spot on...Sinead had The Voice. And I dig the Offspring and Middle Class Rut songs..thanks for introducing me! Fireflight is a huge favorite...I like most of their stuff, but "Brand New Day" tops the list.

Here's my shot at things you might like (most of them Alternative Christian...I have pretty eclectic tastes, and if I didn't limit it to a category, this could go on all day):

Altar Boys...Earliest stuff was neo-punk, but they experimented with a lot of styles. Try "Life Begins at the Cross"; "I Question It"; "Count on Love"

Switchfoot...currently my deepest musical passion. Love the depth of the lyrics. Try "Stars" (with its award winning video); "Dare you to Move"; "Mess of Me"

Phil Keaggy..exceptional guitarist. "I Always Do"

The 77's... electric folk/rock blend; start with "The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes, and the Pride of Life"

Rez Band...champion of the downtrodden & abused. Silence Screams was one of their best albums, and the title track rocks.

Michael Knott..."Rocket and a Bomb" was an exploration of what it feels like to be down and out. Knott himself had experienced homelessness and alcoholism, and these experiences informed his quirky lyrics.

Not in the Christian category, but I can't leave him out as a passion: Mark Knopfler... "What It Is"; "Sailing to Philadelphia"

Kat Heckenbach said...

Awesome, Alan! Thanks for the suggestions! I really appreciate it. I need to take some time to check those out :).